1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emergency removal of a face mask from a potentially spine-injured athlete's protective helmet to allow access to the athlete's airway. More specifically, the invention relates to a pliers type nipper tool for the cutting of the plastic face mask fastening clips which fasten the face mask to the protective helmet shell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Potentially dangerous contact field sports such as hockey, football and lacrosse usually require the use of hard shell helmets for head protection which include plastic-covered metal-bar face masks for face protection. These masks are most usually connected to the hard shell helmet by means of plastic fastening systems which include plastic face mask fastening clips. The plastic clips are designed to be screw-threaded or otherwise attached to the helmet shell and encircle a portion of the rubber/plastic coated metal bars comprising the face mask. During on-field management of a potentially spine-injured athlete wearing such a helmet, it is imperative that the sports health care professional be able to gain immediate access to the athlete's airway without causing unnecessary movement within the vertebral column. If excessive pressure on the face mask is required to insure proper engagement of a cutting blade, the resultant tendency is to place a rotary force about the longitudinal axis of the injured player's vertebral column, which could have disastrous results. Unless the cutting tool for severing the face mask fastening clips is properly designed, the tool often slips off the metal face mask bars resulting in ineffective cutting of the plastic face mask clip. This occurrence usually results in excessive and potentially catastrophic rebound forces being applied to the vertebral column of the athlete wearing the helmet. It is thus apparent that a need exists for a reliable and effective tool for rapidly removing a face mask from the protective helmet of a potentially spine-injured athlete without creating further risks for injury. Although many in the sports medicine industry have called for such a tool, today, the primary approach has been in the nature of modifications to existing tools which are either not generally functional or whose use results in numerous concerns about their safe application.
Until recently, the most common expedient was to attempt modification of existing garden tools or hardware tools such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe cutters, anvil pruners, trauma shears or screwdrivers and high speed rotary tools to perform the task of cutting the plastic face mask fastening clips. The problem with this approach is that modifications to a specific existing tool adapts the tool for only a selected and limited number of instances, therefore requiring the health professional to carry several tools in order to be properly prepared. Generally speaking, this type of tool modification is impractical and ineffective.
Another tool which has been applied is the hand held battery operated blade saw (HHBS). The primary problem with the HHBS is its tendency to melt the plastic clips, resulting in a time consuming and ineffective release of the face mask. Still another attempt at a satisfactory tool is known as trainer's angles (TA), a straight-bladed cutter, which has also proved to be limited in its application and generally ineffective and inefficient for the purpose of obtaining a quick and clean release of the face mask. This tool was designed specifically for football helmets and is generally unworkable on other types of athletic helmets. The TA straight-blade surface used for cutting along a circular face mask bar results in a less than effective engagement, usually requiring a "backup" tool in order to finish the job. Additionally, excessive pressure is required in order to perform the cutting action, requiring significant grip strength on the part of the user, which also becomes a limitation. Sports health care professionals have a long-felt need for a reliable, efficient and effective single tool for engaging the plastic fastening clips and metal face mask bars. The tool should require no modifications and should be universal and thus applicable in all circumstances requiring removal of a face mask from a protective athletic helmet regardless of the fastening system.